Wholistic Health for the Whole Family

Faith VS Certainty

Dr. Brene Brown says, “Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of uncertainty.”

I have been investing time in thought around the difference between faith and certainty, or the lack of. I have years of practice (religion, environment, experience, etc) that encourages me to embrace faith in my spiritual life. There seems to be a growing intuitive compulsion to practice faith in the realm of health, especially natural healing. It has been a journey to say the least. I am hopeful that this journey continues. I have seen the practice of faith lend miracles. It is a power that I honor and revere, but it is far from understood. I think that is the beauty of it….we are not meant to understand, just believe….be courageous!

A patient delivered her gratitude for this phenomenon in the form of a hand-made card. She writes:

Dr. Taryn

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I want to express to you how thankful I am that God placed me in your care to guide me on my journey to healing. In May 2012 I found myself going down an unfamiliar path of dealing with several physical issues, and for some reason the majority of my pain manifested itself in my lower back and hip. Something inside of me told me that all the issues I was dealing with had one root cause, and yet I couldn’t get anyone else to believe me. I spent 7 months trying to deal with the issues myself. I visited a couple of medical doctors that wanted to medicate the issues without getting to the root of all the problems, and that only added to my frustration. I got to the point where I couldn’t stand the pain any loner and in January I found myself sitting in your waiting room. After consulting with you I felt as though I finally found someone with a listening ear and the ability to address ALL that was going on with me. I felt such a sense of peace when I left your office that day! At that time I would have never dreamed all the things that I would learn on the other side of this journey….

First, I have learned to trust the God given instincts that He has given to me with the things concerning my body. Secondly, I have learned to trust the peace that God gives to me when He leads me in a certain direction and to stay on that course and finish it. I am so thankful God kept leading my path to you…..it was the only place my heart found peace and my body began to heal. Thirdly, I have learned that my body is an amazing miracle that is complex and intertwined! I have learned that if I treat the whole body….including the mind, spirit and emotion….then healing can begin. I would have never guessed that all I was experiencing had so much to do with my chemical makeup and with what I was feeding it both physically and mentally.

My journey has had its ups and downs, but I finally feel like I am reaching the end. I feel as though I have found peace in my heart. In my mind, and in my body! You have shared with me a vast amount of knowledge and have been my support and cheerleader throughout this journey….not to mention the many times your healing hands have brought relief to my hurting body 🙂 My words fall so short of what my heart feels and to simply say “thank you” seems very inadequate….but my words are all I have. God has used you in my life to help me find my way to healing and I will forever be grateful!

My heart overflows with gratitude – Teresa Diener

I don’t know that I could say it any better than that. When you listen to your “guts” and act in faith, truely amazing things can happen!

Sometimes we are blessed with confirmation through bloodwork or imaging of a diagnosis (aka certainty). From that diagnosis there is often a recommendation for treatment that can either prevent progression of the condition or resolve it. BUT….more often than not, we are not given certainty. It is very common to consult a healthcare professional with a symptom, maybe multiple symptoms, and a treatment is recommended as a trial. Notice I used the word trial. The practice of medicine usually starts with a differential of diagnosis. One symptom could be a product of countless conditions. A healthcare professional has to gather data from the patient and combine it with knowledge of disease/health that they have to conclude the list of possible conditions. Again, we are occassionally blessed by a lab test or imaging that can confirm a single condition. More often, treatment is recommended based on the more common or more likely condition, hence a trial of treatment, reducing and/or resolving the condition.

With a different pair of glasses on you can consider the power of adding good 🙂 Let’s say you are admitted to the hospital for 3 days for a cardiac procedure. Of course the heart is an important organ. The procedure is necessary to keep you alive. Let’s also say you were denied food and water for those 3 days. How would a lack of nutrition and hydration affect your ability to endure the procedure? Recover? Thrive? I think everyone would agree, you would have to add food and water during your stay at the hospital to endure, recover and thrive. The importance of nutrition and hydration, among many other “good” additions to our body, can be a game-changer when it comes to healing. We all know what we should do to stay healthy; what if the right combination of consistent “good” could be the key to our prosperity, even when there is disease present?

We need a myriad of “good” in our lives to thrive. Everyone priortizes them a little different, but to name a few: food, water, relaxation, purpose, supplementation, sleep, exercise, oxygen, adjustments, detoxification, connection to others and positivity. How often do we priortize the needs of others: work, school, friends, status, church, etc? The constant demand to serve immediate needs (of ourselves or others) at the expense of our long-term needs can rob us of our health!

It is often easy to convince yourself that a prescription medication that has been researched and approved by the FDA will help hault progression or resolve your condition. What gives you that certainty? Can you think of areas of “good” that you have neglected in your health? Could you convince yourself, in the presence of a symptom/condition, that simply adding good would help you heal?

Every body is unique. Every body has strength and weakness. Every body handles germs, inflammation, pain and stress differently. Strive to find the perfect combination of provider, treatment, faith and certainty that is right for you! Never doubt your intuition, even if it challenges the norm! Regardless of your religion or belief in a higher power, believe in YOU! Find a proposal that delivers an inner peace and follow through! Remember Teresa’s discovery, the “body is an amazing miracle that is complex and intertwined! I have learned that if I treat the whole body….including the mind, spirit and emotion….then healing can begin.”